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INVENTOI? ATTORNEYS Patented Febp4, 1896.

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' G. M. HOLSTEIN.

APPARATUS FOR REPINING ZINC.

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WITNESSES NG. m T SH R: R 0 HP S MU T GM A P P A a d 0 M 0 w No. 554,185. Patented Feb. 4, 1896.

F! INVENTOP: Georye Jiajaaiswz WITNESSES A T TOHNE Y S NITED STATES ATENT' nricn.

GEORGE M. HOLSTEIN, OF PULASKI CITY, VIRGINIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE BERTHA MINERAL COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

APPARATUS FOR REFI'NING ZINC.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 554,185, dated February 4, 18 96.

Application filed July 20, 1895. Serial No. 556,596. (No model.)

To 60% whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE M. IIOLSTEIN, of Pulaski City, in the county of Pulaski and Stateof Virginia, have invented a new and usefullmprovement in Apparatus for Refining Zine, of which the following is a specification. I

In an application filed in the United States Patent Office May 27, 1895, SerialNo. 550,811, I have, as co-inventor with John D. James, shown and described a process and apparatus for refining zinc, in which we accomplish the separation of lead from zinc by distillation, by taking advantage of the different meltingpoints, different volatilizing-points, and different specific graviti'es-of these two metals, all in one continuous operation. This method proceeds by causing the lead, which melts first, to flow to a point of lower level, chilling the molten metal at this point, to hold the lead below its volatilizing-point, and distilling the zinc at a temperature below the volatilizingpoint of lead and the apparatus employed by us consists chiefly of retorts whose back ends are lower than their front ends, (which latter connect with the condensers,) the back ends being contained in an outside wall, which has openings in it opposite the lower ends of the retorts so as to chill the stratum of lead.

My present invention proceeds upon the same general principle, but is designed to provide a furnace or apparatus in which there shall be a more economical use of fuel or less loss of heat at the back end of the retort, and in which the operation of drawing off the lead and the cleaning out of the retort can be carried on at the front end of the retort, Where the condensers are, without removing the condensers.

To this end it consists in making the front ends of the retorts lower than their back ends, so as to cause the lead to flow to the front, providing the said front ends with an externally-exposed dam to hold the molten metal from running out (except through a tap-hole) and arranging the condensers so as to open only in the top part of the front ends of the retort, as will be hereinafter fully described.

Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of my improved furnace. Figs. 2 and 3 are respectively a vertical longitudinal section and frontend View of one of the retorts,shown enlarged; and Figs. 4c and 5 are similar views of a modification of the retort.

, In the drawings, Fig. 1, A represents the chamber of the furnace; A, its imperforate back wall; A its front Wall; A the ash-pit; B, the stack or chimney, and G an air-draft.

E are the retorts, which are supported upon shelves D D of fire-brick or tile in-an inclined position with their front ends lower than their back ends. I

The front wall is composed of a nest of iron boxes composed of horizontal shelves C verticalmembers O, tie-rods C, and vertical bars or rails 0 as is common in this class of furnaces.

My retort is formed with an externally-exposed dam a at the lower part of its front end, which prevents the molten spelter shown at dotted line 8 from running out, except when desired, through a tap-hole 0. Above this dam Ct the conical condenser F communicates with the retort, and for this purpose the large end of the cone is seated in a corresponding recess made by a flange 19, formed with the retort and acting as a supplementary dam for the condenser to prevent the pure molten zinc a, as it condenses in the condenser, from running back into the retort again.

During the operation of the furnace the tap-hole c is stopped up with clay, the large end of the condenser is tightly luted in its seat with the same material, and the outer or small end of the condenser is also partly closed with a clay stopple. The bars of spelter are charged into the retort through the condensers, as heretofore.

With this construction of retort the lead melts first and flows to. the front end of the retort whose dam-face a is exposed to the outer air, so as to chill the metal and hold the lead from volatilizing, and which lead by virtue of its greater specific gravity may be drawn off from the bottom layer of spelter through the tap-hole a when it accumulates in sufficient quantity, and thus it will be seen that with my apparatus the same process set forth in our previous case is carried on.

The distinctive advantages which the present construction secures are that only one end of the retort is exposed to the air instead of two ends, as in our previous case, and hence in the presentconstruction there isless loss of heat and a greater economy of fuel, as the back ends of the retorts are thoroughly closed in, and this permits of two series or banks of retorts to be backed up against each other, as shown, one series'infull lines and the other in dotted lines, there being no necessity for having access to the back ends of the retorts, and this centralizing of the back ends of two series of retorts in a double furnace still further economizes the heat.

Another advantage is that all the operations are conducted from the front, and the lead may be drawn off from time to time with out stopping the furnace, and when the re- .torts need to be cleaned out this may be done byrabbles inserted through the openings 0.

Instead of making my retort with a chillin g1. dam a and a condenser-dam b, as in Figs. 1, ,2, and 3, I may use an old form of condenser --With a dam f madeintegral withit, and simply form a grooved neck I) on the retort above the. chilling-dam, as shown in Figs. ,4 and 5.

Zinc dross, galvanizersvwaste, or any other .loo'se form of zinc or zinc-skimmings may be,

treated in my furnace by simply removing thecondensers to-charge the retort.

1 Having thus described my inventiomwhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a zinc-refining apparatus, a'series of.

retort-s set in the furnace-chamber with their front ends lower than their back ends, and

formed with an extern ally-exposed dam at the lower part of their vfront ends for retaining and chilling the stratum of metal flowing to the front, and a recessed seat-for the condenser above the dam and a;condenser com- -hole-c on a level with the bottom of the retort and having also above this dam a recessed seat for the condenser, in combination with a condenser seated therein and communicating with the retort substantially as and for the purpose described.

In aizincsrefining apparatus, a series of retorts set .in the furnace-chamber with their front ends lower than their back ends, and

formed with an externally-exposed dam at the lower part of their front ends for retaining and chilling the stratum of metal flowing to the front, and having alsoabove and back of this chillin g-dam, a supplementary dam form- ,ing both a seat forthe condenser and a dam for preventing the pure, zinc from..fiowing back out of the condenser, and a condenser 4 seated thereagainstand communicating with theretort, all combined substantially as, and

for the purposedescribed.

GEO. M. I'IOLSTEIN. \Vitnesses:

D. W. BARNARD, E. O CARTER. 

